Lawmakers back study to fix mixed‑delivery pre‑K implementation challenges
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Summary
House Bill 14 75 would charge the Office of Child Care advisory council with studying barriers to private‑provider participation in the Blueprint’s mixed‑delivery pre‑K model and recommending solutions, sponsors and witnesses told the Ways and Means Committee.
Delegate Jessica Feldmark presented House Bill 14 75 to direct the Office of Child Care (OCC) advisory council to analyze the mixed‑delivery pre‑K model and recommend changes to improve private‑provider participation. Feldmark and a coalition of providers, associations and county nonprofits said the mixed‑delivery model is essential to reach universal pre‑K but that current grant timing, reimbursement practices, regulatory inconsistencies and administrative burdens limit private providers’ ability to participate.
Witnesses from family child‑care groups, Head Start programs and county providers described real operational strains: delayed reimbursements, timing mismatches between school enrollment and grant awards, Excel/QRIS rating impacts, and regulation differences such as how “rest time” is credited for instruction. Family child‑care providers said small home‑based programs face unique challenges and asked that the analysis explicitly include children with disabilities, braiding of funds for special‑education services, and collaboration between LEAs and private providers.
Supporters urged a careful, collaborative study rather than immediate statutory fixes and proposed a timeline with MSDE implementation and follow‑up reviews. The bill would use the OCC advisory council — a standing, multi‑stakeholder group — to gather recommendations and a road map for implementation. Several witnesses said the approach is preferable when budget constraints limit immediate funding changes.
Committee members heard multiple provider perspectives but the committee did not record a vote during the hearing.
